


I Believe in Father Christmas

by pandorabox82



Category: Holby City
Genre: 12 Days of Ficmas, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 14:47:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,033
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28940202
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pandorabox82/pseuds/pandorabox82
Summary: Serena wakes up to the sound of someone in her house right before Christmas. Will she be able to believe that Christmas Miracles can still happen to lonely people like her?
Relationships: Serena Campbell/Bernie Wolfe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 41





	I Believe in Father Christmas

Serena woke up with a start. She had gotten to bed late that evening, as Gwen hadn't wanted to go to sleep until far past her bedtime. The fault really rested with her, though, as it was the first time that she had been allowed to have her grand niece for longer than one night, and it was a disruption of her routine. Blearily, she rubbed at her eyes and tried to figure out what had woken her. Listening carefully, she tried to see if Gwen was crying. Hearing nothing, she frowned and slipped out of bed, padding quietly over to her wardrobe and stepping into a pair of slippers as she wrapped a robe around herself. The noise came again, from downstairs, and she frowned, wishing that she had a fire poker handy.

Creeping down the stairs, she kept an ear out for mor noises, wondering if she had somehow let an animal in at some point while she had been trying to wrangle Gwen and all her toys inside after they were finished playing. That would just be par for the course with everything that had gone wrong that day, even though she had tried very hard not to let Gwen know that she was frustrated. Thankfully, there was a toy gold club sitting next to the bottom stair, and Serena picked it up as she listened carefully for another noise to tell her where, exactly, the unknown creature was in relation to her ground floor. And then she heard a bauble from the tree hit the wood floor, followed by a low curse, and Serena firmed her grip on the plastic club as she crept closer and closer to her living room.

There was a solitary light on, the one that Serena used when she wanted to have a think after a long day at work. There wasn't much of that these days, since Jason and Greta fell under the at risk umbrella, and she had wanted to remain a part of their bubble so that she could help them out as much as necessary. Still, she had accepted an offer from St. James's to perform telemedicine, interacting with patients over the internet to try and diagnose small problems that they had. It wasn't glamorous work, but it allowed her to stay home, shield, and be with her loved ones as much as possible. Still, the fact that that light was on told her that whoever was in her house knew the layout, because that was a fiddly light. "Whoever's there, show yourself before I ring the police."

"You don't need to do that, Serena. It's just me."

There were only three other times where Serena had felt her hands just turn boneless, and the golf club dropped to the floor with a soft clatter as she tried to make sense of the what she had just heard. It wasn't possible, Bernie was dead, and there was no way that she was showing up in her home as a ghost, like in _A Christmas Carol_ , since such things didn't exist. And there was no way that Bernie was still alive, since her body had supposedly been found and identified after the explosion, even though it had taken so long to get the answers that they were seeking. Still, Serena knew that she would recognize that voice anywhere. The only thing now was to find out just what was going on under her roof.

Groping around for the light switch, she turned it on and watched the room flood with light, revealing what appeared at first glace to be a spectre of her past wearing a very loose version of a Father Christmas suit. "You are dead."

"I was declared dead, yes. It's a terribly long and boring explanation, but the short of it is, they were wrong, and I've spent a lot of time getting well enough to come back home to you and my family. I told Marcus that I had come back to life, as I thought that it would be better if he eased Cam and Charlie into this new reality for them, especially since Charlotte took it particularly difficult to deal with. I wanted to cause them as little harm as possible, but I just wanted to get back to you. My second brush with death made me realise that time was too short to cut myself off from love."

She nodded slowly as she crossed the distance between Bernie and herself, reaching her hand out hesitantly to touch her face before sliding it down her neck and upper chest before resting it over where her heart was. "That's all well and good, darling, but it doesn't explain what you're doing in my house."

"You didn't change the locks, and I never gave you back my key. I wanted to put presents beneath the tree before sneaking up to the guest room and passing out, because I am exhausted after travelling. It was a long, rough, flight, and my body is not quite so easily bouncing back this time."

She nodded as she took another step forward, breathing in the familiar scent of her partner. And that was all she could ever regard Bernie as. There had been no one since her, because no one had ever felt right, and the moment that she was close enough to feel Bernie's soft breath against her skin, she knew the truth, that the woman was home. "Do you have a bag?"

Bernie gave her that crooked grin that she loved so much before nodding. "It's sitting in your chair, since I didn't want to keep bending down so low as I pulled things out of it for you."

"Well, then, soldier, let me get that for you, as you head upstairs to my room. Gwen's occupying the guest room at the moment, and since it was very difficult to get her to sleep, I don't want to disturb her. And I have to ask, you did quarantine for two weeks? I've been keeping my bubble small since I need to be able to take care of Gwen when it gets to be a bit too much for Jason and Greta. They are not doing well with the whole lockdown and pandemic, so I've been taking care of her more often."

Bernie nodded as she slipped her arms around Serena, pulling her close and breathing in deeply. "Yes. And the only flight I was able to get to here from London was too late for my liking, but I took it because I wanted to get back to you. Now, I'm going to head up to bed."

"That sounds like the perfect place for you. I'll follow in just a moment." Bernie made a low sound of agreement in her throat before kissing her cheek, and it took everything in Serena to let her go, as a part of her just wanted to kiss the woman senseless. Sighing lightly, she watched as Bernie turned and left the room, her movements stiff and jerky, telling Serena just how much pain she was in, though she had massively understated her discomfort. "It is so good that you came home so that I can take care of you, Bernie," she said beneath her breath as she went over to the chair in question and picked up the bag that was there. It wasn't quite as heavy as she expected it to be, and she easily shouldered it as she followed after Bernie.

The woman was just leaving the landing when Serena started up the steps, and so she only got a quick glimpse of her bum before Bernie turned for the bedroom, but it was enough to make her grin and hurry up the stairs as quickly as she could in order to be near her again. A part of her heart didn't want to ever let Bernie out of her sight again, not when a miracle had occurred for her that evening, but she didn't want to stifle her, either. It was going to be a delicate balancing act, but it was one that she knew that she could deal with, as long as it meant that Bernie was in her life.

Finally, she reached the top of the staircase and turned to her bedroom, unsurprised to find Bernie already stretched out on her side of the bed, the red suit coat hanging on the door of her wardrobe. "Have you fallen asleep on me already?"

"Almost? I'm sorry."

"It's all right, I think that I'll be falling right back to sleep as soon as I join you." Another soft sound of agreement slipped from Bernie's lips, and Serena dropped the bag at the foot of the bed before climbing in next to Bernie. "We can talk more in the morning, when you wake up."

"All right," Bernie mumbled as she scooted closer to Serena, slipping her hand beneath Serena's pyjama top, and she tried not to shiver with how cold it felt. Somehow, she managed to pull the covers up around their necks as she drifted back off to sleep.

"…could say that I do believe in Father Christmas now, Auntie Bernie."

Groggily, Serena woke up, blinking as she tried to focus on the familiar sound of Jason's voice. "Jason?"

"Yes, Auntie Serena. Greta wanted to come pick Guinevere up, since she missed her, and neither of you were downstairs. She went into the guest room to check on our daughter, while I was asked to check on you. Auntie Bernie was telling me that you and she reconnected last night, but haven't had a chance to talk yet. And I was telling her that I guess I can believe in Father Christmas now, since we have a Christmas miracle here."

She nodded as she sat up, a tired smile on her lips as she glanced over at Bernie. "That is very true, Jason, we do have a Christmas miracle in my home. But I was hoping to sleep until Gwen woke us up."

"I'm sorry, Auntie Serena, but we wanted to make certain that everything was all right. I could make breakfast for us all as a way to make up for waking you?"

"I think that I'd like that, Jason," Bernie responded as she snaked an arm around Serena's waist, pulling her back against her so that she could hook her chin over Serena's shoulder. "That will allow us a little more time to wake up, after all." Her nephew nodded as he got off the bed and left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Well, there goes our opportunity to speak more this morning. Can we put a raincheck on that until after they go home?" Serena asked as she leaned back against Bernie's chest. There was something so familiar and comfortable about being able to commune like this, that she almost didn't want to probe that dark time between them, when she had thought Bernie dead. When she had assumed that she would never talk to or feel her again. Her life had been crazy and chaotic since that announcement, and there were a few things that she regretted, but now that Bernie was supporting her once more, she didn't want to move.

"Of course, Serena. There is so much that we have to talk about. But for now, at least, we can play up the Christmas miracle of this all. After all, this is a time for happiness and good cheer. Once the others have gone home, then the hard discussions can start. Though I am going to steal a kiss from you before we head down to the kitchen. Because it had been too long since I've done that."

Serena purred a little as she nodded, turning in Bernie's arms so that she could look into her eyes. "As if I would ever turn down a kiss from you," she whispered as they leaned in at the same time, their lips pressing together in a tender, yearning, kiss that spoke of the promise of more delights to come, once they were alone and free to reconnect in the way that they both wanted.


End file.
